Why smokers are more sinned against than sinning

Oh the joys of modern communications.

Working from a comfortable armchair off the foyer of Buswells Hotel, close to the Irish Parliament in Dublin, I have spent the morning drinking industrial quantities of coffee while swapping emails with my colleagues John Mallon in Cork and Tom Miers in the Scottish Borders.

The result is a press release which I have just sent - via my iPad - to our Irish media contacts calling for a cut in tobacco duty in next week's Budget.

Tom has also drafted three press releases, only one of which will be released next week. That's because each one features a response to three different scenarios: the Irish government announces that tobacco duty will (1) go up, (2) go down (unlikely, I know), or (3) remain the same.

In the course of the morning a fourth press release has been drafted, inspired in part by an article published this week on The Free Society website.

Traditional sin taxes, writes Martin Cullip, have focussed on unhealthy practices:

The problem in modern times is that sin taxation has far exceeded acceptable levels, and cannot possibly be reduced to something resembling the modest reasons for which it was introduced without a wholesale re-thinking of the role of the state, and a seismic hit to the budgets public bodies that have grown to rely on it.

It is clear that sin taxes are now merely being used as an instrument to squeeze as much income as possible from an already over-taxed society, and are actively impinging on the liberties and prosperity of every tax paying citizen, without even a nod to the original justification for their existence.

We can quite correctly call for reductions and a return to measured rates based on sober financial calculations, but there is little or no chance of such concerns ever being entertained. It is quite simply not affordable for any government to do so.

While taxing us for the sins they have identified in us, politicians have succumbed to the sin of avarice themselves by becoming dependent on ill-conceived revenue which blights the lives of every one of the people they are elected to serve.

Worth reading.

See: Sin taxes are a sin in themselves

Witch-hunt in the workplace

The Boston Globe reports that health officials in the city have voted to ban the use of e-cigarettes in the workplace.

The ban also covers "restaurant patios and decks".

Given that e-cigarettes pose no threat to anyone other than the user (and there is no compelling evidence to support even that claim), a ban seems unnecessarily restrictive.

At the very most it's a matter for employers to decide policy.

If however you consider e-cigarettes to be a harm reduction product, as many people do, a ban makes even less sense. Far from restricting their use, you would think that health officials would want to encourage it in order to reduce people's dependence on cigarettes.

But no. They prefer smokers to experience cold turkey, a policy fiercely opposed by the late quit smoking guru Alan Carr who considered workplace smoking bans to be hugely detrimental to those wanting to give up or cut down. (Cutting down, you may have noticed, is no longer an option. Tobacco control activists say smokers must quit - or die.)

Alternatively smokers should use only products manufactured and supplied by the pharmaceutical giants.

It seems that the humble cigarette, and anything resembling a cigarette, has taken on the mantle of witchcraft as a potentially harmful force. Consumers are already demonised. At this rate it can only be a matter of time before they are banished, imprisoned or worse for their steadfast wickedness.

Boscastle in Cornwall is home to the Museum of Witchcraft. It is said to house the world's largest collection of "witchcraft related artefacts and regalia". Perhaps they should add to the collection cigarette packs, lighters and e-cigarettes.

See: City puts restriction on use of e-cigarettes (Boston Globe)

Downing Street: execution is not government policy

Full marks to David Cameron for making light of Jeremy Clarkson's comments about striking public sector workers.

Interviewed on The One Show last night, Clarkson joked that they should be shot. Inevitably there has been a manufactured storm of protest from the illiberal left.

According to Ed Miliband, who admitted he had not heard the comments, they were "absolutely disgraceful and disgusting".

Number Ten however took a rather different line:

"Execution is not government policy and we have no plans to make it government policy."

Thank God someone in power has a sense of humour. The prime minister just went up in my estimation. Miliband? He couldn't get any lower.

Full story: Jeremy Clarkson apologises as 'execution' rant sparks complaints (Daily Telegraph)

See also: Clarkson's critics should be taken out and shot (James Delingpole)

PS. I wonder if Ed Miliband finds these comments - Snipers could soon snuff out smoking - equally "disgusting". Perhaps he'd like to comment.

See also: More thoughts on sniping and smoking.

Passenger announcement

Sitting in the departure lounge at Stansted waiting to board Ryanair Flight FR207 to Dublin.

Blogging may be light over the next few days but I will monitor (and may edit) comments over 300 words (see Rules) ...

Less, I like to believe, is more.

Santa the serial killer

I have just seen a proof of the 2011 Forest Christmas card.

I like it, with one small reservation, hence my response:

"Re Santa, he looks a bit evil. I'd like him to look more jolly. If we can make him wink without making him look like a serial killer, all the better."

Cross-channel shopping update

When I wrote about the latest hike in tobacco duty in March it provoked a heated discussion about cross-Channel shopping.

I later returned to the subject here: Government cuts tobacco guidelines.

Yesterday we received an email that is worth sharing because it highlights a problem that many people may encounter:

A friend recently drove to Belgium with three colleagues on one of their twice yearly visits to purchase hand rolling tobacco. Nothing was said on his way out of the country and it was not until they returned with their prescribed three kilos that they learnt that the restrictions on the amount of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco had been reduced.

HMRC asked them a lot of questions, said they would allow them to pass this time but in future the limit had been reduced to one kilo each although HMRC did add that this was only a guideline.

Imagine my friend's horror when he returned home and checked out the HMRC website and found so much misinformation that he is very confused.

Imagine reading on one page that there are not any restrictions on what you can bring into the country as long as it is for personal use. Then on the next page the list of what you can bring through customs according to HMRC – just 800 cigarettes (pre 1/10/2011 = 3200) or one kilo of hand rolling tobacco (was three kilos). There is no change on the amount of alcohol you can bring in (guidelines).

Continuing to read he found that if you try to bring in more than the guidelines and cannot give satisfactory answers to questions such as who is this for, how often do you go abroad etc you are liable to confiscation of the tobacco/cigarettes and guess what – your car/vehicle taken as well. I thought this had been resolved in a court case back in 2004.

Is it my imagination or are the government targeting smokers yet again?

The email was timely because on Saturday The Times published an article headlined 'How to keep hold of your duty-frees'.

The article is behind The Times' paywall but it includes a quote from Nothing-2-Declare (who posts about it here) and is worth reading.

Have I got news for you about The Chap

Amused to see The Chap magazine featured on Have I Got News For You last night.

It was a remarkable coincidence because only hours earlier I had asked myself the question, "Whatever happened to The Chap?".

For those who don't know, I'll let Wikipedia explain:

The Chap is a British magazine published six times a year by Gustav Temple, proposing a return to a dandified way of life, involving tweed, pipe smoking, brogues and finely pressed trousers.

Years ago Forest combined forces with Gustav Temple and his sidekick, Michael "Atters" Attree, and together we organised a party on a boat moored close to Blackfriars Bridge in London.

When I first saw the boat, in daylight, I was unimpressed. It was big, with a large outside area, but it looked and felt like a rusty old hulk. Gustav, however, loved it. To him it was a blank canvas and he saw its potential.

To be honest, I don't remember much about the actual event apart from the fact that it was on a Saturday night and the boat was heaving with 200-300 people (many of them dressed in Chap-style clothes).

I do remember that Gustav and his colleagues did a magnificent job decorating the boat and at one point there was a "smoking competition" that involved five people puffing on a cigarette apiece using a cigarette holder.

The winner was the person who smoked their cigarette in the fastest time. It was silly yet hilarious to watch. (I don't think health and safety would allow it now.)

Gustav and "Atters" attended one or two Forest events after that but I haven't heard from them for a while. I can report however that The Chap is responsible currently for two annual events – The Chap Olympiad and The Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball. The latter, now in its third year, takes place next week.

PS. If you're wondering why, out of the blue, I asked myself "Whatever happened to The Chap?", it was because of this blog post. Below it is a web banner and a link to The Chap website, hence the connection.

Scotland: smoking ban isn't working

Researchers investigating the impact of the smoking ban in Scotland have produced a new report.

'Impact of Smoke-Free Legislation on Smoking Quit Attempts and Prevalence', published on November 16, concludes:

Quit attempts increased in the three months leading up to Scotland's smoke-free legislation, resulting in a fall in smoking prevalence. However, neither has been sustained suggesting the need for additional tobacco control measures and ongoing support.

Full report here.